Runemagick: a band that truly needs no introduction. Or at least they shouldn’t. Either way, they have been treading the metal world since around 1991, making amazing death metal albums with their own touch. They have truly mastered the art of slow-paced death metal. Sweden’s gods of the mid-paced death metal style are back once again in 2005 with their unannounced 8th album ‘Envenom.’ The way they released it was phenomenal. This album was, literally, an unannounced release. The day the world found out about was one day prior to its release. Now that’s a way to keep an album from leaking. With this outing, however, they took on a new sound. Maybe they were just experimenting, I’m not sure. In the past, as fans of the band know, they have always touched the edge of doom metal but never crossed that line into it completely. They pulled out all the stops for ‘Envenom,’ creating a mammoth five song, 60-minute death-sludge-doom monster. They have finally crossed the line, and the results are astounding.

The album opens with “Vultures,” one of the albums four 11-minute-plus doom crushers. Great riffs, damn-near-perfect doom-laced melodies, growls to match those that are the best in the metal community. It has what we call for. One thing that’s throughout the album is the use of stop-start riffs, and bluntly so. How they seamlessly go from the start-stop riff to a smooth flowing riff is great. As with most doom, there are long instrumental passages in each of the album’s five songs, all fitting the mood perfectly. “Nebulous” is a great slab of death-doom. “Maelstrom” is a great closing song. Like the opening song (and basically the entire album), the song simply crushes you into dust with its doom laden riffs and death growls. There is a slight problem, though. This album is basically your standard death-doom album, so there isn’t a whole lot to say. Runemagick just perfected its sound and gave it their own little touch. And, that’s definitely not a bad thing.

The production is perfect. It sets the mood perfectly. When something needs to stand out, it does, and not too much so. The musicianship is also pretty much perfect. Very tight. You can tell the members practically belong together in a band. In the end, the album doesn’t really have a clear best song. Once you listen to it, you realize how equally good each song is. I guess just check it out and pick your poison. If you liked Runemagick before, you shouldn’t be disappointed. If you’re into some of the best death-doom out there, you shouldn’t be disappointed. And if you’re looking for a band that can change stylistically and still maintain greatness, you definitely won’t be disappointed.

[This review was first published on the now defunct scandinavianmetal.info webzine]